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What is the Wooden Award in college basketball? All we know about the prestigious trophy

The Wooden Award is one of the most prestigious awards in college basketball. It's given annually to men's and women's basketball players who excelled during the NCAA season.

Forty-six men's cagers have won the Wooden Award since it was first held in 1977, while 14 female players have received the accolade since 2004. Let's dive deeper into the accolade by exploring the criteria for judging the nominees and the past winners of the prestigious trophy.


What is the Wooden Award in College Basketball?

Duke's Zion Williamson won the Wooden Award for men's basketball in 2019.
Duke's Zion Williamson won the Wooden Award for men's basketball in 2019.

The Wooden Award is presented annually to the most outstanding collegiate player of the year in men's and women's basketball. It's named after John Wooden, who won the National Collegiate Player of the Year in 1932 while playing at Purdue and guided UCLA to 10 national titles as coach.

The Players of the Year for men's basketball are selected by a panel of 1,000 college basketball experts who come from the nation's 50 states. The women's version of the trophy is voted by 250 sportswriters and sportscasters around the US.

For the men's side, the 26-man National Advisory Board selects the 20 players who have excelled during the season and meet the criteria established by the Award's founders. As for the women's side, the 12-member National Advisory Board picks 15 candidates who are included in the ballot.

The winners of the Wooden Award are the players who receive the most votes for both genders. They are announced following the national championship game.


What are the criteria for the Wooden Award?

Anthony Davis won the Wooden Award in 2012.
Anthony Davis won the Wooden Award in 2012.

According to the Wooden Award website, the National Advisory Board picks and seeds the candidates for each category.

The players selected are certified by the university that they've met the criteria for the award. They include: candidates must be full-time students in their college or university; they must be full-time students that have a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 since enrolling in their school; must exhibit excellent on and off the court character; a team player that excels in both offense and defense and candidates are being evaluated on their performance in the entire season.


Has anyone won the Wooden Award twice?

Sabrina Ionescu was a two-time Wooden Award winner in 2019 and 2020 when she was playing for Oregon.
Sabrina Ionescu was a two-time Wooden Award winner in 2019 and 2020 when she was playing for Oregon.

Since its inception in 1977, only two men's basketball players have won the award twice.

The first was 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson, who won back-to-back Wooden awards in 1982 and 1983 while playing for Virginia. Forty-one years later, another seven-foot-four player duplicated Sampson's feat as Purdue's Zach Edey was voted the Wooden Award winner for being the outstanding men's basketball player in 2023 and 2024.

The women's side has had more two-time winners with seven. They are LSU's Seimone Augustus (2005-06), Tennessee's Candace Parker (2007-08), UConn's Maya Moore (2009 and 2011), Baylor's Brittney Griner (2012-13), UConn's Breanna Stewart (2015-16), Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu (2019-20) and Iowa's Caitlin Clark (2023-24).


Wooden Award winners by year

MENWOMEN
SeasonPlayerSchoolSeasonPlayerSchool
1976-77Marques JohnsonUCLA
1977-78Phil Ford
North Carolina
1978-79
Larry Bird
Indiana State
1979-80
Darrell Griffith
Louisville
1980-81
Danny Ainge
BYU
1981-82
Ralph Sampson
Virginia
1982-83
Ralph Sampson
Virginia
1983-84
Michael Jordan
North Carolina
1984-85
Chris Mullin
St. John's
1985-86
Walter Berry
St. John's
1986-87
David Robinson
Navy
1987-88
Danny Manning
Kansas
1988-89
Sean Elliott
Arizona
1989-90
Lionel Simmons
La Salle
1990-91
Larry Johnson
UNLV
1991-92
Christian Laettner
Duke
1992-93
Calbert Cheaney
Indiana
1993-94
Glenn RobinsonPurdue
1994-95
Ed O'BannonUCLA
1995-96
Marcus CambyUMass
1996-97
Tim DuncanWake Forest
1997-98
Antawn JamisonNorth Carolina
1998-99
Elton BrandDuke
1999-2000
Kenyon MartinCincinnati
2000-01
Shane BattierDuke
2001-02
Jason WilliamsDuke
2002-03
T. J. FordTexas
2003-04
Jameer NelsonSaint Joseph's2003-04Alana BeardDuke
2004-05
Andrew BogutUtah2004-05
Seimone AugustusLSU
2005-06
JJ RedickDuke2005-06
Seimone AugustusLSU
2006-07
Kevin DurantTexas2006-07Candace ParkerTennessee
2007-08
Tyler HansbroughNorth Carolina
2007-08Candace ParkerTennessee
2008-09
Blake GriffinOklahoma2008-09Maya MooreUConn
2009-10
Evan TurnerOhio State2009-10Tina CharlesUConn
2010-11
Jimmer FredetteBYU2010-11Maya MooreUConn
2011-12
Anthony Davis
Kentucky2011-12Brittney Griner
Baylor
2012-13
Trey BurkeMichigan2012-13Brittney GrinerBaylor
2013-14Doug McDermottCreighton2013-14Chiney OgwumikeStanford
2014-15Frank KaminskyWisconsin2014-15Breanna StewartUConn
2015-16Buddy HieldOklahoma2015-16Breanna StewartUConn
2016-17Frank Mason IIIKansas2016-17Kelsey PlumWashington
2017-18Jalen BrunsonVillanova2017-18A'ja WilsonSouth Carolina
2018-19Zion WilliamsonDuke2018-19Sabrina IonescuOregon
2019-20Obi ToppinDayton2019-20Sabrina IonescuOregon
2020-21Luka GarzaIowa2020-21Paige BueckersUConn
2021-22Oscar TshiebweKentucky2021-22Aliyah BostonSouth Carolina
2022-23Zach EdeyPurdue2022-23Caitlin ClarkIowa
2023-24Zach EdeyPurdue2023-24Caitlin ClarkIowa

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